Punjab Governor tells CM: Respond to my letters or I’ll write to the President in accordance with Article 356

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Friday threatened to recommend action against the state government under Article 356 (failure of the Constitutional mechanism) if Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann fails to provide the information he has requested through “letters,” setting the stage for a new confrontation.
The Governor also threatened criminal prosecution under Section 124 of the IPC (assaulting a president, governor, etc. with the intent to compel or restrain the exercise of any lawful power) over the CM’s refusal to provide information requested by him (Purohit) through letters “in spite of the clear provisions of Article 167 of the Constitution” which mandates that the CM furnish all such information relating to the administration of affairs of the country”
“I ask you to send me the necessary information sought after under my letters referred to above, as well as in the matter of the steps taken by you concerning the problem of drugs in the State, failing which I would have no choice but to send a report to the President of India under Article 356 about the failure of the constitutional mechanism and take a decision about initiating criminal proceedings under section 124 of the IPC.

Purohit stated in reference to his earlier letters asking for information on several topics that it seems Mann is purposefully withholding from him. The Governor also said that the CM had disparaged him. He cited a number of criticisms of the Governor voiced by the CM. It included the CM’s comments in which he referred to the Governor as a “velha baitha” (someone with nothing to do productively) who kept writing him “love letters”

Purohit said that the CM tried to prevent him from “exercising the lawful powers conferred on me under article 167 of the Constitution” by making these “derogatory remarks.”

In the letter, Purohit reminded the CM that failing to provide the information requested by the Governor would be clearly a breach of the constitutional duty placed on the Chief Minister under Article 167(b). Purohit continued, “I have to advise you, warn you, and ask you to respond to my letters referred to above and give me the information sought.”

The Governor questioned the state’s medicine supply in the letter he sent on Friday. “I have heard from a number of organizations about the widespread usage and misuse of narcotics in Punjab. Although it is well known that they may be found at pharmacies, a recent development has been the sale of them in government-run liquor vending machines. In a combined investigation, the Chandigarh Police and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently shut 66 liquor stores in Ludhiana that were peddling narcotics.

According to a recent assessment by the Parliamentary Standing Committee, one in five people in Punjab are exposed to or addicted to narcotics. These facts demonstrate how the law and order system in Punjab is failing to the point that the villagers have begun to demonstrate in big numbers on the streets and have made the decision to form their own village defense committees to safeguard themselves from narcotics. Please provide a report to my office right away detailing the steps you took in relation to these medications, Purohit continued.